Boom in train travel across the Crawley area

A boom in rail travel has taken place in Crawley with massive increases in the number of people using local trains.

Growing populations and changing work and travel patterns have led to year-on-year increases at Crawley, Three Bridges, Ifield and Faygate stations over the past two decades.

Last week Crawley MP Henry Smith hit out at the ‘unacceptable’ level of train services in the area.

But figures released this week by the Campaign for Better Transport might go some way to explaining some of the problems.

Faygate Station on Crawley’s doorstep has undergone a staggering 570 per cent increase in the number of passengers over the past twenty years.

In 1998, the station handled 2,019 passenger ‘entries and exits’ which rose to a massive 13,532 in 2015.

Meanwhile, Crawley Station itslef handled 1,080,872 passengers in 1998 which increased to 1,997,288 - a huge 85 per cent - last year.

Three Bridges Station, with its direct link to London, was even busier with 1,640,908 passengers in 1998, rising to 3,229,830 in 2015 - a 97 per cent increase.

Ifield Station has also grown. In 1998 it dealt with 198,242 passengers which rose to 353,502 in 2015 - a 78 per cent increase.

Andrew Allen, from the Campaign for Better Transport, which has drawn up a map of rail passenger growth through the country, said: “The result says a lot about rail’s strengths as well as showing where investment and support are now long overdue.”